Rob McDaniel's Baked Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Breadcrumbs

Step 1

Prepare the breadcrumbs. Take day-old bread and cut it up small. Toss in butter and herbs and cook them until they are golden brown. Once they come out of the oven, put them in the food processor until they are small like crumbs.

Step 2

Put olive oil, sherry vinegar, garlic cloves, bay leaves, basil sprigs, and anchovies in the bottom of a baking dish.

Step 3

Take off the bottom and top of your tomatoes and remove the core. Place those in the baking dish with the other ingredients to let them marinate for an hour. After one hour, flip the tomatoes over and let them marinate for an additional hour.

Step 4

After the tomatoes have marinated, season both sides with salt and pepper to taste. Place baking dish with tomatoes in the oven on broil for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 5

Remove tomatoes from the oven and place about 1 tablespoon of goat cheese on each tomato. Place tomatoes back in the oven for 5 minutes or so until they get nice and bubbly. The cheese should have some color to it and you should be able to smell the aroma of basil, garlic, and anchovies. Let tomatoes rest for five minutes.

Step 6

Add a tablespoon or more of breadcrumbs on the base of a plate. Place tomatoes on top of plate of breadcrumbs (all four on one plate). Drizzle with the olive oil marinade and top with a bit more breadcrumbs.